Troutbirder's Philosophy

I’m thinking today of a choice I’ll be making in a few weeks and thence till the end of September. Trout fishing or birding.

For now there is no choice really. Trout season doesn't open for two weeks. Still, those are two of my favorite outdoor activities (along with flower gardening). They are very similar actually. To be successful you need to be very observant. Close to nature works best.

The best trout fishing is invariably away from the crowd. Crowds of people might work once in a while for birding but I suspect solitary or with one other person is also best. Walking quietly through the woods. Both hobbies often find me in the most beautiful of places. Stalking really.
Both hobbies can involve storytelling. The big one that swam away. Or the little brown one that was too quick flying away to identify. People sometimes besmirch the fly fishermen as "elitist's". That arises from the trout fisherman’s disdain for the "three guys in a fancy power boat with two cases of beer syndrome." Birders are often stereotyped as little old ladies in tennis shoes with binocs in hand. Also, the birder faces the charge of incipient "dweeb or geekism." .

I think I just like being one with nature and afterward being able to reflect on the experience and tell stories about it. Like the time I caught a bat who was attracted to my homemade fly. Or the time I was trapped against a cliff in Yellowstone Park while two testosterone crazed elk had it out right in front of me. For example, the tendency and the need to place close attention to things and the time to contemplate them is why trout fishing has produced the only real "literature" in the fishing genre.

To paraphrase Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Voelker....
I fish and bird because I love to; because I love the places where birds and trout are found. They are often very beautiful. Crowds, malls, television, freeways, rap music, junk food and junk pop culture leave me cold and depressed. I flee with camera or flyrod in hand, to that which I can enjoy in the company of Mother Nature. Relaxed and at one with my surroundings, the cares and turmoil of a world seemingly gone mad are left behind. Gods creatures do not lie, cheat and abuse their surroundings, nor can they be bought or impressed by status and power. My cell phone often doesn’t work in the places I frequent so I’m left alone (except for Baron my GSD). Thus there is solitude without loneliness. I am at peace with my little corner of the world.